20/06/09 - Fishponds

Weight – 284lb 3oz
Catch – 39 Carp, 2 Bream.
Weather – Cloudy, sunny period. Breezy.
Water Temp– 19.5c > 19.5c

When I arrived I was hopeful the fish had stopped spawning and would be hungry. Generally, I don’t enjoy pleasure fishing, as much as I do match fishing, so when I do go, I set myself targets and todays target was to compare the pellet waggler, against the pole & paste.

I settled on peg 13 and started on the pellet waggler, fishing & feeding 8mm pellet. The intention was to spend the 1st 3 hours on the waggler and then fish the pole for the last 3 hours.

1st hour – 35lb. As soon as I started feeding, there were fish swirling and after 5 minutes I hooked what was obviously a big fish. 10 minutes later a cracking common of 12lb 4oz was safely landed. I had set up to 2 waggler rigs, 1 with a 12" hooklength and the other with a 6" hooklength. 4 more carp followed during the next hour on the shorter hooklength.

2nd hour – 14lb. I struggled to hook any fish, despite them swirling. I began to fiddle with my feeding and swapping rigs, but I couldn’t catch.

3rd hour – 72lb. Decided to switch to the pole early. I had fed 2 swims. The 1st was to my left on top of the shelf, next to the reeds and the 2nd was 10m to my right at the bottom of the shelf. I swapped between the 2 swims, hooking a fish almost every put in. A handful of 6mms after every fish kept the fish interested.

4th hour – 58lb. Another productive hour on the pole, with most fish coming from the deeper right hand swim.

5th hour – 53lb. With 2 hours to go I was on target to beat my PB weight of 258lb and wanted another go on the waggler. I had been feeding the swim whilst fishing the pole, but initially things were a little slow, however with more regular feed the fish showed in greater numbers.

6th hour – 52lb. Was 300lb possible? Well I wasn’t sure, but my PB certainly was. Unfortunately, I managed to break 2 rigs whilst trying to land fish, there was only so much abuse they could take. Both those lost fish and the time needed to set up new rigs, probably cost me 300lb, but I’m absolutely delighted to a get a PB weight.

As for the comparison between the waggler and pole, the pole was certainly better, particularly during the 3rd hour, but 100lb on the waggler in 3 hours is not to be sniffed at.